Emily

Personal Response: Emily
Presented On: 5/23/16

Having your vulnerabilities exposed can be very uncomfortable. Exposure gives a toxic burning feeling deep down inside because you have released an emotion, feeling, part of you, that no one else had known before.    
In my photo I chose to smile to express the emotion of happiness, what makes me vulnerable.  Not for the fact that I don’t like to smile or to be happy but because it seems that this part of me has been taken away so many times, on a level of family, relationships, friendships, etc., each time making it harder to express again. After so many times of being let down, or letting others take it away from me, it gave me the hopeless feeling that good things don’t last. Now in my life when good things occur or good people come along I catch myself taking a step back wondering if I should let my guard down, while always having the feeling of disappointment or hurt lingering in the back of my mind. I have become very vulnerable to expressing myself when it could be taken away from me at any moment.
Although throughout my experiences of difficult times occurring in my life, I have learned something very important which is to always make yourself happy first. Not one person or thing in this life should determine your happiness but yourself. Which is why, in exposing what makes me vulnerable, I chose to smile.